Return of the Assassins
by Blackout444
Summary: A young boy's life is completely destroyed when his family is murdered, from his loss he becomes an Assassin to hunt down all those responsible for his pain and in the process stumbles upon a plot by the Templars to take over the world. He must join forces with the Avatar and his friends to stop the Templars before they succeed.
1. Four Endings, One Beginning

Four Endings, One Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed nor do I own Avatar: The Last Airbender along with the characters related to both.**

The young child lay on the ground, cold and motionless as his blood escaped through the gash in his neck. He stared at the night sky illuminated with orange as flames engulfed his house, destroying everything he loved. Sounds of his family filled the area, his mother and sister screaming and desperately trying to reach him, his father and brother doing their best to fend off their attackers. He dared not move his head, the pain was too great, he heard as the sounds originating from his family ceased one by one followed by a hard thud as their bodies fell to the ground. He heard the shuffling of feet soon followed by voices.

"That was harder than I thought it would be." One man said

"Yea those two put up a real fight, started getting on my nerves." A different voice stated.

The child was slowly losing consciousness as he fought the pain of his wound. A pair of footsteps came ever closer to him as he opened his eyes to see a tall man with grey hair, and grey eyes look down upon him wielding a small dagger covered in blood, his blood.

"Hmmm, this one seems to still be alive, apparently I didn't cut deep enough." He said in a disappointed tone.

The five other men formed a circle around the soon to be corpse of the boy, staring at him as life slowly oozed out from his small, fragile body.

"He's finished boss, this one doesn't have much more fight in him." A chunky red haired man stated.

The child looked over every face of the six individuals. Memorizing their features, these were the men that took everything from him, that destroyed his life and took his family. He ignored the conversation between them and stared and stared until he knew he would never forget. The grey haired man knelt down to the boy and smirked at him.

"Tanel paid a great deal of money to kill you and your family, such a shame I'll never know why." He laughed as he spoke.

"We better leave before someone sees the fire and smoke, we've wasted enough time as it is." He addressed his companions, they agreed, mounted their ostrich-horses and rode off into the darkness.

The pool of blood around the boy grew and grew as he lost his strength to keep his eyes open. He went in and out of consciousness struggling to stay awake. He heard galloping in the distance as it came closer and closer to an eventual stop, feet away from his body. He heard someone dismount the animal and walk towards him stopping over his soon to be corpse. He forced his eyes open a sliver and made out a dark figure against the burning house, then darkness followed as he passed out. The hooded individual wrapped the boy's neck to halt the bleeding, gently picked him up and mounted his ostrich-horse then rode away from the death and destruction the mercenaries had caused, holding the dyeing child in his arms.

The young boy awoke in a dark room lit only by a single candle, the room was bare except for the bed he was on, a chair adjacent to the bed and a nightstand that held a bowl of blood stained water and multiple rags. He felt his neck and winced at the pain his hand caused as it touched his bandaged covered wound. Tears streamed down his face as he began to realize his nightmare was real, his family was dead and his home destroyed. He was overwhelmed by sadness, anger, hatred, vengeance, he wanted those responsible to pay for what they had done and feel his pain.

As he was trying to make sense of the barrage of emotions overtaking him the door swung open and a hooded man entered and closed the door behind him. The child didn't move his head but observed with his eyes the individual walking towards him.

"I see you're awake, good" The man said taking a seat next to the boy. "Do not speak only listen, as I'm sure you know the rest of your family is dead, murdered by those mercenaries. I was too late to save them and I am sorry. You are in my home, my name is Han and I am an Assassin." The boy had heard of Assassins, individuals that take other people's lives. He became cautious of the man and observed him much closer, not sure of what to think of the man before him.

"Get some rest, we will talk more when you are feeling better." With that statement he stood and walked toward the door.

The child's mind began to race, his family was murdered, his home destroyed, he had no family he knew of that would take care of him and the desire for vengeance burned inside of him like fire. He jolted out of bed ignoring his pain. "Wait!" He uttered towards the man's back. Han spun around shocked at the boy's sudden change.

He took deep breaths and continued "I have nothing, my family is dead, my home is destroyed and I want those responsible to pay." He paused again to take more breaths as he spoke through the pain in his neck. "Please, teach me to be an Assassin." The child said as he fell to his knees. Han looked at the boy for a second then slowly walked towards him and helped him back into bed.

"What is your name boy." Han asked him.

He paused to prepare himself for the pain of the words to follow. "My name is Josh."

"I doubt you understand what it is to be an Assassin of the creed, but I will train you and you will learn. What you seek though, it will not bring your family back from the dead and in the end may cause more harm than good, do you understand me?" Han asked.

Josh thought for a bit and nodded slowly.

Han sighed "Very well then Josh I will train you and you will become an Assassin. Rest well for your training will begin once you have healed, you have a long and difficult path ahead of you boy, prepare yourself."

**Just to let you all know this is a revamp of an old story of mine called Crossing Paths but I hit a road block with it mainly due to lack of knowledge of one of the crossover topics so I never finished it, but I will finish this one and don't say I plagiarized or anything because Crossing Paths was my original story but like I said this is a revamp replacing FF with TLAB and I will finish this one. So leave feedback and let me know what you think, thanks guys.**


	2. Welcome To The Brotherhood

Welcome To The Brotherhood

_It's been 14 years since Josh's family was murdered and his home destroyed, he's trained and studied with his fellow apprentices William and Tessa. Today's the day they become Assassins._

The three apprentices stood with their backs toward a cliff overlooking the green rolling hills which they practice in regularly. They stood in a line, all three facing their master as he tended to the fire they had built.

Han turned to the three and spoke. "Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. The wisdom of our creed is revealed through these words."

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted. We work in the darkness to serve the light, we are Assassins." Josh, William and Tessa responded in unison.

Han nodded and stepped back toward the fire, taking out a branding vice and looking toward the three.

William was the first to step up. He was tall and built with short black hair he spiked up in the front, which was always laid down due to his hood. Tessa always said he was the bigger version of Josh, they both had black hair and brown eyes but William was of lighter complexion and stood 5' 11" plus he was overall more fun to be with. He was more suited to head on combat and loved to fight. His favorite weapons were the tomahawk accompanied by a dagger, which were also Josh's weapons of choice so the two often argued and fought over who was more deadly. He loved to joke around and play pranks on Josh and Tessa, he was the more lighthearted of the three. He loved to play pranks on Tessa due to his amazing ability to annoy her to no end, Josh however, he was careful with because sometimes his pranks ended up with the two throwing punches at each other. He walked toward the master holding his left hand out and only his ring finger extended. As Han branded the mark into his ring finger he began to chuckle at the pain. Tessa rolled her eyes and mumbled insults under her breath while Josh stood looking forward toward his friend.

William walked back into formation then Tessa stepped forward. She was quite skinny and short standing at about 5' 2". She had blonde hair that shone bright, even under her hood. She had a flawless complexion with a pale skin tone that complimented her bright green eyes. She was very shy not wanting to share her opinion for fear of ridicule from Master Han, Josh or William. Tessa preferred stealth combat and assassinations rather than all out fighting. Her weapons of choice were her dual hidden blades. She spent most of her time in the study as opposed to William who spent most of his time in the gym or sparring with Josh. She walked toward Master Han and like William, had her left ring finger extended toward him. As he branded the mark onto her she flinched a bit at the pain and closed her eyes tight. After it was over she walked back toward her two friends and stood with a smile on her face.

Josh stepped forward walking toward the master. He stood at 5' 8", well-built with a tan skin tone that matched his cold brown eyes. He had somewhat long black hair that formed bangs over his eyes as he liked to keep his hair straight down. He also had a scar on his neck that went from ear to ear reminding him daily of his loss he suffered as a 6 year old boy. Josh was a balance of William and Tessa, exceling at head on combat as well as stealth assassination. He preferred to speak only when spoken to and usually never gave his opinion unless asked or it was necessary. His time was well balanced half sparring with William and the other half studying with Tessa when they weren't on an assignment from Master Han. Josh, like his two friends before him held his left ring finger out as Han branded it, he closed his eyes, inhaled then exhaled slowly. When it was done he stepped back and rejoined his friends.

Master Han retired the branding vice and walked toward the edge of the cliff, holding his hand over the drop. "Below is a pile of hay, this leap of faith is the final part of your joining apprentices. After this you will be Assassins."

This time Josh stepped forward first, looked down toward the landing spot and jumped with his arms extended from his sides as he flipped in mid-air to land in the stack of hay back first. He jumped out of the stack and brushed himself of the hay that clung to him, he then looked toward the three at the top and stood awaiting the next volunteer.

William jumped without hesitation and landed the same way Josh did. He practically burst out of the haystack with a grin that spread ear to ear. "Hey Josh, you think Master Han will let us jump again, you know just for the fun of it." He asked Josh, smiling the whole time. Josh just simply grinned as he looked up toward Tessa awaiting her leap.

Tessa, like Josh before her observed her landing spot and jumped the same way her friends before her did, also landing in the same manner. She walked out of the stack smiling toward the other two. "Well we're finally Assassins boys." William gave her a high five and went to give Josh one but he walked past William and Tessa back toward the house.

"I hate it when he does that, he can be a real ass sometimes." William stated with a frown while Tessa giggled. "Come on let's go see what he's doing." She told William as she ran after Josh.

Josh entered the two story house and walked up the steps toward his room. He entered his room which contained an assorted amount of furniture, his bed, a nightstand adjacent to it, a dresser for his clothing with a mirror on top of the dresser, a closet for his weapons and ammunition which were currently spread out on the bed, and a door that lead to a balcony overlooking the field from which the just came from.

He took his Winchester rifle off the bed, swung the cocking lever down to load it, when he was finished he spun the gun around his middle finger which was at the bottom of the lever to cock it and holstered it on his back. Next he took his steel longsword, inspected it for a bit and slid it into its sheath at his left hip. He picked up his tomahawk and accompanied dagger which were his weapons of choice, swung them around a bit and holstered the tomahawk on his right hip and the dagger in a sheath right in front of his longsword. Next he picked up a belt of throwing knives and clipped the belt around his waist, with the knifes in front of his torso so they were easily accessible to throw. Last but certainly not least he slid his gauntlets on which had his hidden blades attached to the belly of his gauntlets. He flicked his wrists and two long blades extended from their housings against his wrist and rose just past the tips of his middle fingers, he flicked his wrists again and the blades retracted back into their housings. He checked the hidden pistol built into his right gauntlet, adjacent to the hidden blade housing, making sure it had ammo and gun powder. Then checked the hidden poison darts that were attached to his left gauntlet, adjacent to that hidden blade housing. Making sure the vials were full and the darts were in working order. He then took four smoke bombs and stored them into one of his pouches.

He checked himself over making sure he had all his equipment, checked the closet one last time to make sure he wasn't leaving anything. Once he was sure he walked out of his room to be greeted by his friends and master.

"Whoa where you going Josh? Looks like you're getting ready for war." William stated.

"Yeah, what's the deal" Tessa added.

Master Han remained silent, knowing full well what was going through the young Assassins mind. Josh looked toward Master Han, ignoring William and Tessa and after a few moments responded. "This is something I have to do." The response was aimed more toward Han then the other two. Han nodded and stepped aside as Josh walked past the three then headed to the stables. Josh readied his ostrich-horse for a long journey packing plenty of food and water.

Han, William and Tessa followed him not speaking, only watching until Josh mounted his ostrich-horse and was about to leave when Tessa broke the silence. "This is about your family isn't it?"

Josh stopped in his tracks and spun the animal around to face the only family he had ever known. "The grey haired man said Tanel paid a lot of money to have my entire family killed even me and I intend to find out why. Fourteen years with no answers is enough, it's time to find out the truth."

"This is not our fight Josh, we cannot help you with this. This is your personal quest for vengeance, which may destroy you in the end. You realize this do you not?" Master Han inquired to the new Assassin.

Josh nodded slowly. "Yes I know this is not the Brotherhood's fight and I know the risks but I must have answers."

Han looked down then spoke again. "Very well child but remember the three tenants of our Creed, you are to follow them at all times even in your quest for revenge. Stay you blade from the flesh of the innocent."

"As Assassins it is our job to strive for peace in all things, the death of the corrupt and wicked ensures stability among the people. We do not kill those that need not die." Josh responded to the first tenant.

Han nodded and continued. "Hide in plain sight, allow the people to hide you."

"We blend into crowds to stalk our targets and when the time is right we strike and disappear just as fast. The public hides us and is our cover." Josh responded to the second tenant.

Han nodded once again. "The third, final and most important of the three tenants, never compromise the brotherhood."

"We are not to bring harm to the brotherhood through direct or indirect actions, the whole must never pay for the failure of the individual." Josh once again responded to the tenant.

Master Han nodded again. "Very well child, good luck in your quest I only hope it will not be your end. May fortune smile upon you and guide your blade, Assassin."

Josh looked among the three one last time. "I will return once I learn the truth, and I will help rebuild the brotherhood once this is over. Good fortune upon you all." With this closing statement he rode off with his back toward the setting sun as the only family he knew watched him disappear over the horizon.

**I apologize for the lack of action I just figured I'd give the background of the other Assassins in the story and their joining. Please leave feedback I enjoy reading the reviews and I'll update as soon as I can but work and school take up most if not all of my time so I'm aiming for a new chapter every weekend hopefully I'll be able to make that. Thanks again guys, hope you enjoyed it and again please leave feedback, I'd love to know what you all think.**


	3. A Night In Omashu

A Night In Omashu

The sky was lit with a bright orange glow as the sun slowly set at Josh's back. His journey had taken four days and three nights of almost nonstop riding but he finally neared his destination, the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. He had been to Omashu before on assignments given by his Master but he was always accompanied by William and Tessa. Now he was alone and this time the trip seemed to take more out of him than usual, he began to miss the company of his fellow Assassins and wondered what they were doing right now. William was probably playing a prank on Tessa and in turn Tessa was trying to jam her hidden blade into his throat, then Master Han would have to intervene before blood was shed. Josh chuckled at his thought then took a deep breath and rubbed the neck of his ostrich-horse.

"We're almost there girl, just a little longer." He said to his ostrich-horse, Ava, as he lightly tapped her side with his foot to quicken the pace. Ava sped up a bit as they climbed over a hill and Josh caught his first glimpse of Omashu, the great Earth Kingdom city.

"There it is girl." He spoke aloud, He then tapped Ava's side again and she went into a full out sprint toward the city.

Josh and Ava quickly advanced on the city walls, a trail of dust in their wake. The stone walls of the city were massive, only growing in size as he quickly approached the gates from the single trail leading to the mountain-top city.

"Whoa girl!" He said as he pulled on her reigns to bring the ostrich-horse to a stop in front of the city gates.

A half dozen earthbenders approached the well-armed Assassin, the leader of the group stepped forward and approached Josh.

"What's your business in Omashu stranger? The guard Captain inquired to Josh as he looked over him, observing how well armed the traveler was and became cautious of the hooded stranger.

"I'm here for a little vacation, taking a break from my troubles back home." He responded with a smile.

This answer did not please the guard Captain in the slightest. "You're very well armed for someone on a vacation."

"I came a very long way to arrive here at Omashu, there are many dangers on the road and I wanted to be prepared for anything." Josh told the guard.

The Captain frowned and looked over the well-armed Assassin once again. "I've no reason to deny you passage to the city but if I hear even a whisper about you causing trouble, you won't be around long enough to even say sorry." As he spoke the last few words he used his earthbending to lift two giant boulders over Josh's head and smash them together turning them into powder, which fell and coated his white robes in a layer of dust. The Captain smiled at his own display and moved to the side as he and his earthbenders opened the gate to the city.

"Enjoy you're stay stranger." He said with a smirk.

Josh rode forward without saying a word or looking at the earthbenders. As he rode past the end of the gates they closed behind him and he turned his head toward the now formed wall. "I wonder if he's considered innocent." He said aloud and continued into the city.

Darkness had already settled in and most of the shops were closed for the night. Lamps illuminated the path he was on as people walked about, enjoying their night or returning to their homes to retire. Josh let out a loud yawn and Ava began to whine.

"I know girl I know, we'll find a place to stop and rest, I'm tired too." He said to her as they continued to walk the illuminated path.

Josh kept his eyes opened and looked for a place they could rest for the night. A three story building soon caught Josh's eye, there was light coming from the entire first floor and a couple windows of the second and third floors. He read a sign hanging just above the entrance to the building that read, "Paradise Inn".

"Hmmm, looks promising, come on girl." He directed Ava toward the building.

Josh dismounted Ava as she came to a stop behind a couple other ostrich-horses. He grabbed her reigns and walked her to the troughs, one filled with water, the other filled with food and tied her to the wooden posts running above the troughs. He patted her head and smiled. "You did good girl, get yourself some food and water, I'll ask about sleeping arrangements for you." He took a bag filled with his belonging off of the saddle and made his way toward the door.

Josh opened the entrance and entered the inn. It was very nice and simple, the commons area had a fire going in the center with multiple chairs and couches that formed a circle around the cozy fire. A few people sat in front of the fire, basking in its glow. On the other side of the room was a bar, still serving drinks and food to customers that sat on the many stools in front of the bar. Josh walked forward to the front desk where a single clerk was doing paperwork.

"Good evening sir, how are you tonight?" The clerk asked with a smile and looked up from his papers to Josh.

"I'm fine, I just need a place to stay for the night. My ostrich-horse is tied outside, she's nearest to the door and goes by the name, Ava. If you would be so kind as to take her to the stables I would appreciate it." He responded to the clerk.

"Of course sir, of course, I'll have one of the attendants take your ostrich-horse to the stables and have food and water for her immediately." The clerk responded with a smile.

Josh nodded to the clerk. "Now as for me, I'm only staying a night, or so I hope. If circumstances change I'll let you know but for now I just need a room for one night, so nothing too fancy."

"Yes sir, of course. I'll put you in room 204, on the second floor, east side. It's 40 silver a night sir." The clerk told Josh.

He nodded again and took out his coin bag, counted out 40 silver and handed it to the clerk. He paused for a second and took out another 5 silver and handed that to the clerk.

"Give that to the attendant that takes care of my ostrich-horse, a little tip for them."

The clerk smiled wide and took the money from Josh. "You are too kind sir." He said to the Assassin as he handed him his room key.

"Thank you, have a good night." He took the key and walked away from the counter to find his room.

"Good night sir, sleep well." The clerk said and went back to his paperwork.

Josh ascended to the second floor and roamed around a bit before finding his room. He slid the key into the slot and opened the wooden door. He walked toward his bed throwing his bag of belongings on top. Josh went about the room, lighting the candles located on the walls for. Once the room was well illuminated he walked to the surprisingly large closet and swung it open, looking into the vacant area. He began to unclip his harnesses that held his weapons. First his body harness that holstered his rifle, next his belt filled with knives, afterwards his main waist harness that held his longsword, dagger, tomahawk, smoke bombs and ammunition. He hung them all in the closet in a neat row, and began to disrobe.

Josh unbuckled the four straps holding his brown, knee high boots in place and quickly slid them off. He followed by removing his hidden dagger gauntlets and setting them on the night stand next to his bed. He removed his outer white robes that held the hood he favored so much and had a blue trim on the edges of the coat tails that extended all the way up to the coat's neck collar. He dusted his outer robes off from the earthbenders display and hung it next to his weapons. He took off the black shirt he wore under his outer robes and hung it next his robe. Finally he undid the black pants he wore and slid them off, folding them next to his boots.

He took a second and looked at his robes, modeled after Grand Master Assassin Conner. A part of him felt unworthy to wear them because instead of staying with Master Han, Tessa and William, he went off on his own quest for vengeance. He was being selfish, he knew the brotherhood needed to be rebuilt after it was exterminated over one hundred years ago but instead of staying with the only remaining Assassins, he left. Josh closed the closet doors, guilt and anger at himself started to set in. He would return, but after this, after Tanel, after his answers. He walked into the bathroom and removed his last article of clothing and began to wash himself off from four days of dirt and filth.

He began to think as he bathed, what if Tanel doesn't offer answers and only more questions? What if Tanel isn't even here in Omashu and has already left? How far would he be willing to go for answers? Would he abandon everything he had been taught from childhood? Would he abandon the tenants he held so dear? Would he abandon the last three members of the brotherhood that needed him? He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall and spoke aloud to himself.

"How far will I go for answers, for vengeance?"

He shook his head and told himself he would answer those questions when and if he needed. He grabbed a towel and began to pat his body down, drying himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped into the main room. Josh approached his bag of belongs that rested on the top of the bed and opened it, exposing its contents. Out of it he pulled a clean article of underwear and slid them on, taking off the towel and hanging it back in the bathroom. He closed his bag up once more and placed it under his bed. Josh took his hidden blade gauntlets and secured them on his forearms, flicking his wrist to extend the blades, then flicking his wrists again to retract them.

Josh went about blowing out the candles that illuminated the room, one by one as darkness began to engulf the area. Once the last candle was out and darkness completely enveloped the room, Josh made his way into the bed, pulled the covers over him and rested his head on the soft, white pillow. He folded his hands behind his head and proceeded to stare at the dark ceiling, those questions still running through his head over and over. Thankfully though it had been a long day and sleep overtook the young Assassin and calmed his restless mind for the night. These questions would be addressed soon but not now, now he slept. This was his first night in Omashu.

**I'm sorry, I know it's been a couple weeks since my last update but like I mentioned in my other chapter work and school take A LOT of my time up. Anyways I received a message from williamsthrother2 asking what Josh's robes looked like and realized I never went over that, so I apologize and hope this answers your question william and anyone else who was wondering the same thing. So thank you for bringing that to my attention and when William, Tessa and Han make their way back into the story I will be sure to describe their robes as well. Another thing that was brought up was Josh's rifle, I know it's out of time setting but I've always liked the idea of a rifle for an Assassin and the reason he has that rifle will be explained in a later chapter, along with other things. I only hope you will be content with the explanation Dracoolim as well as anyone else that is a little bothered by the out of timeline item. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I apologize for the lack of action, considering the wait for this chapter. As always I love to hear your feedback so please review and/or message me, thanks again guys and hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


End file.
